Armenakan Party

The Armenakan Party was a conservative Armenian political party in the Ottoman Empire that existed from 1885 to 1921. The party was established in Van by Mekertich Portukalian as an underground organization against the ruling system, and the party developed the political principles of Armenian nationalism in secret. The party supported revolutionary armed struggle to liberate Armenia from the Turks, but it viewed terrorism, agitation, and militant demonstrations with disfavor, instead supporting guerrilla resistance to Turkish rule. After the Armenian Genocide, the party assisted in the creation of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party.